“By the way, if you see a candidate who Washington embraces, run and hide,” Cruz said at the Cornerstone Action Stand and Fight Forum in New Hampshire, adding that “Washington despised Ronald Reagan.”

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The GOP firebrand said government is dysfunctional not because of partisanship, but because of “career politicians” who don’t understand the rest of the nation.

“Washington is broken right now, and it’s broken because — I’ve said many times — the biggest divide we’ve got, politically, is not between Democrats and Republicans,” Cruz said. “The biggest divide we have politically is between career politicians in Washington in both parties and the American people.”

The recent congressional vote on a government spending bill that allocates funds to Planned Parenthood is emblematic of an unresponsive political process, he added.

Cruz also reiterated his plans to defund Planned Parenthood, abolish the Department of Education and shut down the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in his speech.

Cruz currently places sixth in New Hampshire, drawing 6 percent support according to a RealClearPolitics polling average.

A group of candidates who have never held elected office currently top polls in the Granite State.